I am majoring in Sociology due to my interest in learning about marginalized populations and how they are affected by societal and institutional barriers. I study Sociology to understand how targeted populations, especially visible ethnic and racial minorities, are impacted by social, economic, and racial inequalities in society. I wanted to pursue an internship at Just Solutions legal clinic because it allows the opportunity to learn about fragile refugees and immigrants. I wanted to help such vulnerable individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. My goal was to make a positive change by contributing to someone’s life in a meaningful way. My drive and passion come from helping those in need. Interning at Just Solutions enabled me to acquire the fulfilling and rewarding experience that I was in search of. By providing legal information, I helped oppressed migrants to stay in a country where they felt safe, secure, and protected. I gave legal aid to a marginalized population looking for better opportunities and more life chances. I loved being part of Just Solutions’ admirable cause of advocating for the vulnerable.
Just Solutions is a legal clinic that specializes in refugee, immigration, and humanitarian law. By providing legal information, they help refugees and immigrants with a precarious legal status. Just Solutions offers information on the following topics: refugee claim process, recourses following a refusal, family reunification applications for accepted refugees, sponsorship breakdowns due to domestic violence, and rules governing permanent residence applications. As an intern, I entered clients’ information into a database system called Salesforce. I reported information pertaining to clients’ cases to my internship supervisor. I sent analyses of cases to my supervisor in order to receive her professional feedback/expertise on clients’ legal matters. I conducted research on country conditions for cases represented by Just Solutions’ legal coordinator. I gathered all information from my research into a word document and emailed it to my supervisor. My research on countries’ living conditions was used to update clients’ permanent residence applications based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. After answering clients’ questions about their legal situations, I did follow-ups to see whether they still required further assistance or if any legal information provided to them was unclear. I made referrals for clients in need of services/resources unavailable at Just Solutions. I also communicated with community and social workers in order for them to better understand clients’ immigration situations.
The best part of my internship was when clients expressed gratitude for helping them. Being compassionate by nature and caring towards people’s hardships, I felt truly amazing whenever clients appreciated my efforts to assist them. Often, clients would say thank you which made me believe I was successful in my goal of making a positive difference for those sidelined and voiceless in society. A woman once said God bless you and told me I am a kind-hearted person. She expressed a sincere and genuine thank you for listening to her concerns/worries and for helping her with her legal situation. My passion in life is to help people. After receiving such beautiful and good wishes from clients, I know I achieved excellence through my hard work of giving legal aid to these people in need. Most Just Solutions’ clients migrate to Canada in hopes of a better life. I am happy and touched to learn I made them feel more comfortable in a country completely foreign to them. Clients face several difficulties such as financial insecurity, domestic violence, and threats of persecution in their country of origin. It was an absolute pleasure to assist them as much as possible and to the best extent of my abilities. It brought me overwhelming joy to support vulnerable newcomers in their journey to have a more advantageous/fruitful life by moving to Canada. I cannot think of a better way I could have enjoyed a more fulfilling, meaningful, and rewarding summer.
I did not apply to receive credit for this internship because I wanted to focus on receiving the professional supervised experience that comes along with a valuable internship. Interning at Just Solutions increased my interest in immigration and law. Therefore, I plan to further explore these fields. A huge thank you to the Morris and Rosalind Goodman Family Foundation for funding my award! The funds helped by making me feel immensely supported and highly encouraged throughout the entirety of my first ever internship experience. For those interning remotely, I advise to not sit behind a screen for countless hours. Sticking to a healthy schedule is important for remaining productive and motivated.
